John townsend



(No Model.)

J. TOWNSEND.

RAILROAD FROG.

Patented Nov. 24, 1885.

' lUNTTnn flTaTns PATENT Orrrcn.

JOHN TOWNSEND, OF JOHNSTOWVN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE JOHNSONSTEEL STREET RAIL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILROAD FROG. V

EBPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,013, datedNovember 24, 1885.

Application filed October 1, 1885. SerialNo.17B,726. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN TowNsnND, of J ohnstown,in the county ofOambria and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Railroad-Frogs,which invention or improvement is fullyset forth and illustrated in the following specification andaccompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide a form of frog-moreparticularly for streetcar tracks-which shall be made of center'bearinggirder rails capable of being connected by splice-bars to the railswhich are used for the rest of the track.

The invention consists of the parts as hereinafter described, and setforth in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure1 is a plan of the frog complete.Fig. 2 is a plan of the rail marked B in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of arail having portions of its head and flanges cut away preparatory tobending into the point of the frog shown at A A in plan in Fig. 1. Fig.4 is an end view of the frog, from theleft, at the points marked a a inFig. 1. Fig. 5 is an end view of the frog, from the right, at the pointsmarked 7) bin Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section through Fig. 1,taken at the line E E.

The method of constructing said frog is as follows: The rail B B isfirst bent, as shown detached in Fig. 2, and then the parts indicated bydotted lines are planed ofi' from b to b and from b to b parts of boththe upper and lower flanges and head being thus cut to the same line orangle. The rail 0 0 (sh own in Fig. 1)is bent similarlyto the rail B B,except that the bend is the reverse of the bend given to the rail B B.The head and both side flanges of the rail 0 G are also planed off inthe manner just described for the rail B B. The two rails are then puttogether, as shown in Fig. 1. ,The rail A A, as shown detached in Fig.3, has both its upper and lower flanges planed off on one side betweenthe points a a. On its other side the upper and lower side flanges andhead are planed off from the points a a to the central point, of. At thepoint a a sufficient thickness of head is left to stand the bend, whichis effected while the rail is sufficiently heated for the purpose. Therail 0 A A is then bent over until it assumes the form A A a shown inplan in Fig. 1. If desired, the rail A A may be made of two separatepieces of rail-namely, from A to a respectively-connected together attheir points, and also to the rails B 0, Fig. 1, repectively,bysplice-bars, or chocks and bolts,

or otherwise. A beveled plate, F, Figs. 1 and 6,is fastened through theadjoining flanges of the rails B O by bolts with countersunk heads, asshown at ff, Fig. 1. The spacingbolts D, Fig. 5, hold the ends Z) b,Fig. 1, of the rails B O properly apart. The splicebars 0 c arecontinued so as to lap the main rails of the track, and thus they serveto of feet a junction between frog and .main rails by a strongsplice-joint. The bolt D is also provided with nuts 9 K, and washers h,having a splice-bar fit. The rails are thus properly adjusted and tiedapart by the adjust- 7o ment of said nuts hard up against the splicebarsand washers. In Fig. 4 the spacingbolt (1 is not provided with insidenuts and washers, as such are obviously not necessary when the rails ortheir flanges are abutting each other. It is not a necessity to planeoff the rail B between the points b b, Fig. 2; but such a constructionadds to the neatness of proportion of the frog. The flanges e e of therail A A abut against similar flanges on the rails B C at the points 6c, Fig. 1. In Fig.

3 the rail A A is therein shown in plan, continued on outwardly ineither direction from the points a a; but in Fig. 1 the rear of thefrog-point A A is shown as cut offat the points a a of Fig, 3, to whichpoints the points ea in Fig. 1 correspond.

It is obvious that a frog can be constructed according to thedescription herein given, and without any material departure therefrom,so long as the bearing of the tread of the wheels on the center of thehead of the raiil is central to the web of such rail, irrespective ofany minor variations in the form or proportion of the side flanges ortheir equivalents.

Having thusfnlly described my said improvement in railroad-frogs as ofmy invenvergent ends of said rails secured to the rails tion, I clain10f the track, substantially as and for the pur- A frog forming acrossing for the wheels posesset forth. 0f railway-cars, composed ofrolled eenter- JOHN TOWNSEND. 5 bearing girder-rails, having the webs ofsaid Witnesses:

rails secured together by rivets or bolts, with A. MONTGOMERY, orwithout interposed ChOCkS, and the di- A. J. MOXHAM.

